IAU and Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) were pleased to celebrate the first cohort of international institutions participating in the Responsible Futures Programme during the recent IAU International Conference at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan (22-24 November 2024).  

Sonya Peres, Senior Project Manager - Education at SOS-UK joined Isabel Toman, Programme Officer for HESD at IAU, to present a poster exposition highlighting the partnerships’’ work and to exchange with the delegates during the 3-day conference. 

Responsible Futures is a whole-institution approach to embedding holistic sustainability across the formal and informal curriculum in higher education. It is a supported change programme and accreditation mark that works to put sustainability at the heart of student learning. The Responsible Futures framework assists in creating an environment for staff and students to work together, in partnership, to embed sustainability throughout teaching and learning. 

Next cohort starting now

In parallel to the pilot completing the audits, the new cohort, including many of the pilot institutions, has continued and started to engage with RF. Congratulations to all RF International participants on their achievements so far and best wishes for the continued ESD Journey!  

Learn more

IAU Members interested in participating in the Responsible Futures International in 2025 are invited to contact Isabel Toman (i.toman@iau-aiu.net) to receive further information on requirements. 

Website: https://www.responsiblefutures.org.uk/international-programme 

There is now an intense focus on the purpose and role of education in times of unprecedented uncertainty, instability and existential crises. UNESCO states that society globally faces a stark choice between “continuing on an unsustainable path or radically changing course". Education is crucial to such transformative change, says UNESCO, but only if education can itself be transformed. In other words, for higher education to be an agent of change, it needs to be a subject of change itself.

Drawing on his new book Learning and Sustainability in Dangerous Times Stephen Sterling, Emeritus Professor of Sustainability Education at the University of Plymouth, outlines ten issues that restrict the ability of ESD (education for sustainable development) and parallel movements to fulfill their potential, and ten keys which could unlock the potential of education to help secure a safe and liveable future.

The language of educational change increasingly embraces concepts of “renewal”, “regeneration” and “reimagining” yet this movement can be encapsulated in a single notion: the fundamental repurposing of education. Several decades of work and debate gave rise in 2021 to the ICFE’s key report and the ensuing Future of Education initiative. Despite genuine advances and the acceptance of the sustainability agenda by many institutions, there is also some evidence of inertia and circularity in the emerging discourse.

We live in times when urgency demands agency in HE towards sustainability. This session approaches this conundrum and asks how higher education stakeholders can cut through the noise and shape policy and practice to repurpose education towards the common good and well-being of people and planet.

Speakers

In addition to Professor Sterling, the IAU will welcome the following speakers:

Dr. Elena Toukan, Research Specialist, UNESCO Futures of Education

Prof. Arjen Wals, Professor of Transformative Learning for Socio-Ecological Sustainability and UNESCO Chair of Social Learning and Sustainable Development, Wageningen University

Prof. Iveta Silova, Associate Dean of Global Engagement and Professor, MLF Teachers College, Arizona State University

Dr. Hilligje van't Land, Secretary General, IAU

Recording and Resources

To watch the recording of the webinar, please click here.

To access the slides, please click here: Slides Stephen Sterling / Slides IAU and Poll results

For additional information and resources shared in the chat, please go to the resources document prepared by IAU here.

We're pleased this month to highlight Responsible Futures International pilot institution University of the West Indies (UWI, several locations in the Caribbean). The Responsible Futures  International Programme reinforces existing sustainability structures and engages the student body through various activities. For instance, UWI took part in the 7th annual international Teach In in March 2024. This campaign is delivered by SOS-UK which calls on educators to pledge to include the UN Sustainable Development Goals in their teaching, training, and learning throughout the month.

Closely related are other student-led initiatives: the Trees for Tomorrow (T4T) programme and the UWI STAT (Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow) Ambassadorial Corps. T4T is a three-part student project aimed at educating primary students in Trinidad and Tobago about sustainability and climate change. It consists of a teaching session with a worksheet covering five topics on a sustainable future, tree planting of Moringa tree seedlings, and an arts & crafts activity that teaches children how to make useful items and avoid plastics. The programme has a goal of expanding its reach to other primary schools and instilling sustainability values into lessons on an ongoing basis. UWI STAT on the other hand helps shape young leaders through service and volunteerism across all five UWI campuses and 17 Caribbean countries that the UWI serves. This unique program brings together students at the primary and tertiary level, encouraging community engagement. 

The Responsible Futures International Programme and UWI STAT both focus on raising awareness at the tertiary level about negative impacts of climate change and the promotion of behaviours that assist in reducing detrimental climate impacts, while T4T begins already at the primary level to support a sustainability mindset early on. 

All three programmes focus on the SDGs, especially SDG4 - Quality Education, SDG13 - Climate Action, and SDG17 - Partnerships for the Goals. 

Learn more here about the Responsible Futures International Programme.

About

The IAU SDG 3 Cluster, spearheaded by the eHealth Center at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in collaboration with the International Association of Universities (IAU), organized two webinars titled "Addressing Mental Health and Wellbeing in Universities" on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, celebrated on October 10th. These webinars, conducted in English and Spanish,focus on how universities are addressing the mental health and well-being of their staff and students.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, particularly among young people. This reality has made the effective identification of mental health challenges and the creation of a supportive environment for emotional well-being a fundamental priority for universities. In this context, the IAU SDG3 Cluster is exploring the interrelationship between the current environment, mental health, advancements in e-health, and the skills needed to strengthen mental health in today’s challenging context.

The webinars, scheduled for October 1st and 3rd, will delve into how universities are supporting the mental health and well-being of their staff and students. Discussions will cover innovations, best practices, current challenges, and future plans in this area.

Speakers

October 1st session at 10:00 a.m. (CEST), in English. - Recording will be available here

• Opening statements: Pam Fredman, Board Member and former President of the International Association of Universities.
• Speakers: Steve Lee, Mental Health and Wellbeing Team Manager at Western Sydney University; Ellen Brackenreg, Executive Director of Equity, Diversity, Safety, and Wellbeing at Western Sydney University; Galuh Suryandari, PhD candidate in Medical Education at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia; Joy Louise Gumikiriza-Onoria, Lecturer, Clinical Psychologist, and PhD fellow at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda.
• Closing statements: Marta Aymerich, Director of the UOC’s e-Health Center.
• Moderation: Liv Raphael, IAU SDG3 Cluster Lead at the UOC.

Note: To access presentations shared by speakers, please click on the corresponding speaker's name above. 

October 3rd session at 5:00 p.m. (CEST), in Spanish. - Recording available here

• Opening statements: Isabel Toman, Global SDG Cluster Lead at the International Association of Universities. 
• Speakers: Alba Pérez González, Professor at UOC and Researcher at the Universidad de Barcelona; Gustavo Pacheco López, Vice President for Outreach and Internationalisation at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México (UAM); and Oscar Mauricio Castaño Ramírez, Psychiatrist at the Department of Mental Health and Human Behavior, Universidad de Caldas.
• Closing Statements: Manel Jimenez, the Vice Rector of Community, Alliances and Society at UOC.
• Moderation: Marta Aymerich, Director of the e-Health Center at the UOC.

Recordings

You are invited to join the session in English, the session in Spanish, or, for a comprehensive experience, both. Please register at the following links:

-> Watch the recording (English Session)

-> Watch the recording (Spanish session)

In partnership with Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK), the International Association of Universities is pleased to spotlight one of our Responsible Futures International pilot participants, Women's University in Africa(WUA) in Zimbabwe.

Through their participation in the Responsible Futures Programme, WUA is dedicated to integrating comprehensive sustainability into both formal and informal curricula in Higher Education. To drive this mission, WUA has established a formal structure to implement the Responsible Futures Programme, complementing existing clubs and associations that address sustainability issues.

“Sustainability begins from our own environments, our homes, our institutions, and the communities we identify with.” claims Dalitso Ndlovu, WUA Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Information Systems, “In our innovations, we need to recognise that the world is moving towards cleaner and more sustainable practices.”

The Responsible Futures Programme at WUA:
The programme is composed of 2 students per level across 5 campuses in Zimbabwe and 1 in Malawi (Diploma to PhD Programmes), a student representative council that closely collaborates with the Dean, 2 staff members per department on all campuses. These team members conduct programme evaluations every semester.

To guide the work of the programme, the WUA Internationalization Committee of the Senate, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, receives reports from the Responsible Futures Sub Committee every semester to inform the Senate and University Council. The Sub Committee for Responsible Futures then collects reports from various other university sub-committees for the Internationalization Committee of the Senate. These university leadership offices are currently revisiting the 2023-2027 Transformational Strategy to incorporate the Responsible Futures Programme and ensure that the strategy is in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Focus Areas:

• Advocacy, Awareness, and Visibility: team members are working to establish a core working group of staff and students.
• Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations: team members strive to develop an advocacy strategy, create sustainability content, and produce a sustainability newsletter.
• Monitoring and Evaluation is to be conducted twice a year at the end of each semester in order to ensure reasonable and responsible strategic planning can take place while previous goals are being met.

One ongoing sustainability project of note is the Boost Enactus Team (student club). The team has recently competed in a national competition at the Celebration Centre in Harare for a project on Automated Irrigation Systems with farmers at the University Farm in Marondera.

We applaud Women's University Africa for their outstanding efforts and look forward to their continued success in embedding sustainability across all facets of higher education. 🌱🎓

Learn more here about the Responsible Futures International Programme.

Discover the latest report on SDGs activities carried out by the IAU HESD Cluster members:

2023-24 Activity Report: https://iau-hesd.net/sites/default/files/media_files/ClusterReportActivities2023_final.pdf 

What is the HESD cluster?

Unlike other projects in this area, the IAU Global Cluster on HESD brings HEIs from all continents together, and encourages them to develop joint initiatives and synergies. This project is about bringing together universities to exchange and work on an equal footing.

The Cluster works on all dimensions of the SDGs, combining economic, social, cultural, and environmental sustainability. Especially the cultural dimension of SD will be at the core of this Cluster, since this is an area not touched-upon a lot by others. Yet, due to the diverse nature of the IAU, the association believes that this is the key to successful partnerships and a holistic understanding of the Global Goals.

The Cluster is composed of 16 lead Institutions, each championing and working on one specific SDG while at the same time linking it to other relevant SDGs. Work on goal 17, which consists of multiple organizations working together, is led by IAU. Gradually, additional institutions will be invited on board. The Cluster will be supported, monitored and steered by the IAU Working Group on HESD. Initiatives developed by the Cluster will be made available to all IAU Members.

Read more about the Cluster here: https://www.iau-hesd.net/index.php/IAU-Global-HESD-Cluster 

On 8 July, the opening day of the 2024 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) for Sustainable Development at the United Nations, Associate Professor Kerry Ryan Chance from the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen and principal investigator of the Habitable Air research project spoke in the second plenary session, representing both EASG and the IAU. 

This is a full transcript of her speech during the session “Science, technology and innovation: Triggering transformation and sustaining science-driven solutions”:

Thank you, Chairperson.

I represent the Education & Academia Stakeholder Group, the International Association of Universities, the University of Bergen in Norway, and The Habitable Air Project. Air pollution multiplies crises: it negatively impacts public health, heightening cancer and asthma rates among the most vulnerable, and it contributes to global warming. Our multi-country air monitoring study found: (1) a lack of publicly available information about exposure to air pollution, such as SO2, in poor communities; and (2) that regulatory guidelines do not address local or cross-border air pollution effectively. These findings underscore the urgency of SDG#1 – No Poverty, and SDG#13 – Climate Action.

There is a need for governments to work across borders, and together with grassroots communities, to provide more support for those who bear the brunt of air pollution and climate change, and for whom energy transition is a lifeline. There is also a need to measure and make public air pollution’s impacts, to advance research that starts with local knowledges, and for higher education to stand as a strong partner in catalysing this cooperation between sectors (policymakers, industry, academia, and communities).

The Habitable Air Project and its partners, in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, aims to put the unequal distribution of air pollution globally on the agenda for climate change policy at the HLPF and beyond.

Thank you.
 

You can watch the speech in this recording from the UN web TV. Kerry Ryan Chance speaks at 3h12min.

Learn more about the University of Bergen's engagement at the joint side event with IAU at the HLPF 2024 here.

The International Association of Universities and Students Organising for Sustainability (SOS-UK) collaboration for the Responsible Futures supported change programme embeds sustainability through all aspects of teaching and learning. By working in partnership with students at universities around the world, Responsible Futures aims to increase buy-in and support from senior leadership to drive ESD forward, increase capacity and resourcing for developing curricula with sustainability, and foster collaboration and interdisciplinary experiences for students and institutions alike.

As such, we're pleased this month to highlight Responsible Futures International pilot institution Mykolas Romeris University (MRU, Lithuania) and their latest work related to Responsible Futures!

MRU fosters a whole-institution approach to sustainable development by embracing it's environmental, economic and social impact on the local community and society. MRU is committed to learning and sharing their knowledge on ESD by creating new and updating existing study programs, carrying out research and social innovations, implementing national and international projects, organizing events and educational activities.

How are they working to ensure these goals are met?
➡ Consultations with students on sustainability perspectives, knowledge and skills. 
➡ Analysis of student needs and expectations for ESD.
➡ Support from senior leadership and community engagement.

What does MRU have planned for 2024?
💡 Consultation with the academic staff on the competences and confidence for ESD.
📚 Preparation for the student-led audit. 
🔎 Engagement with the student-led audit as part of the Responsible Futures project.

Learn more here about the Responsible Futures International Programme.

See more photos here.

We're thrilled to announce the finalists of the 2024 International Green Gown Awards, delivered by EAUC.

The International Green Gown Awards are endorsed by United Nations Environment Programme and are supported by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), L’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and International Association of Universities (IAU).

Now in their 10th year, the Awards recognise the outstanding and innovative sustainability projects being implemented in tertiary education institutions around the world. This year, we have 95 finalists from 28 countries across eight categories!

-> See which projects, institutions and countries made the shortlist on the Green Gown Awards website. 

We pleased are that several IAU Members are amongst the finalists:

• American University Bangladesh
• University of Coimbra
• Concordia University
• Daffodil International University
• International Islamic University Malaysia
• Siam University
• Western Sydney University
• York University

A UNESCO analysis of 100 national curriculum frameworks in 2021 revealed that nearly half (47%) do not mention climate disruption. Only 23% of teachers felt able to properly address climate action in their classrooms and 70% of young people surveyed could not explain climate disruption, and expressed concerns about the way in which it is currently taught. 

If significant progress has been made over the past three years by UNESCO Member States to integrate environmental topics across curricula, a new report co-published today by the Organization cautions that formal education has focused too much on imparting knowledge about environmental issues, rather than driving action, and is failing to show learners the role they can play in tackling the climate crisis. The report argues that sustainable development education must also focus on first-hand experiences which are more likely to lead to change. 

To this end, today UNESCO is promoting two concrete tools for its Member States and educational communities around the world:

UNESCO’s new Greening Curriculum Guidance is a practical manual providing, for the first time, a common understanding of what climate education should consist of and how countries can mainstream environmental topics across curricula, with detailed expected learning outcomes according to age group (from 5-year-olds to 18+). It focuses on the importance of promoting active learning and designing a range of hands-on activities. 

UNESCO’s new Green School Quality Standard, developed in partnership with other UN agencies, civil society and countries, sets the minimum requirements on how to create a “green school ”by promoting an action-oriented approach. It recommends that all schools set up green governance committees including students, teachers, and parents to oversee sustainable management. It also calls to encourage teacher training, conduct audits of energy, water, food, and waste audits, while also calling for stronger ties with the wider community to help students address environmental issues at local level. 
 

IAU is part of UNESCO's Greening Education Partnership (GEP).